"Just talk to your daughter," she said. "It's really the best option we have right now."
I spent the rest of the day in the field baling the hay. It was dry and ready to go. At one point, I saw Violet down at the cabins. The contractor was pointing at the new roofs, showing her what they'd done. When I was just over halfway done, Cy walked out and waved me down.
"She'll be home soon," he said, gesturing at the tractor. "So let me finish up, because I have a feeling there will be an explosion if you aren't around to diffuse it."
I climbed off the tractor and headed over to clasp his arm. "I won't blame you if you stay out here until it's done, but I'll take any advice you have about smoothing this over."
"Don't lie to her," he said. "Don't dismiss her fears. It's a fine line you have to walk, Luke, and she's allowed to be angry about this, so that's all I got."
"I'll figure it out," I promised.
He just clasped the side of my neck, his eyes meeting mine. "I'd kiss you for luck if I didn't think it would make things worse."
"Go bale some hay," I laughed, pushing him toward the tractor gently.
Then I headed up to the house. When Faith finally came home, she stormed into the house like she was ready to throw down, but Ash and Violet were both shut into their own offices. My daughter looked around like she was surprised to find no one in the main house, and then she sighed.
"Where are they?" The attitude dripped from her voice.
"Working," I said, tipping my head toward the hall. "So, you want to talk about this now or later? Because wearegoing to talk about it, Faith. You and me."
"Now," she said.
So I pointed to the hall. "Cy's haying, so we can use his office. It's private, and I want to hear what you have to say, but I want you to hear what I have to say too."
She just tossed her bag onto the couch and turned that way. This time, she didn't storm, but she was still angry, and I had a feeling that walking past their offices wasn't helping any. Still, I knew that if we used the living room, someone would walk through. Didn't matter if that was to use the bathroom, get a drink, or anything else. I wanted to make it through this without a distraction, and I had a feeling Cy wouldn't mind at all.
Grabbing a Coke for both of us, I trailed after her. In Cy's office, Faith had claimed a corner of the couch. I passed her one of the drinks, then sat sideways on the chaise so I was facing her. Both of us took our time about opening the screw caps, letting the fizz out, and it seemed that a bit of the anger began to fade from her little body.
"We all talked today," I started. "All four of us."
"Was I right?" she asked.
I lifted a hand. "I did not ask if they slept together." Mostly because I didn't need to, but that was beside the point. "We talked about where things stand. Faith, they're sorry you were hurt. They honestly are. Now, I'm not going to tell you everything, but that's because it's my relationship and not yours, but I will say that we're working it out."
"But you deserve better than that, Dad," she groaned. "Don't you get it? Cheating's the worst thing there is!"
"Who told you that?" I countered.
"Mom," she mumbled. "But all the girls at school say it too."
I just nodded. "And those people say that gay is bad, but you don't care about their opinion on that. What's the difference?"
"I dunno," she mumbled.
"It's about respect," I told her. "Faith, this feels so bad to you because you think they don't respect me, and I promise that's not the case. Honey, love is complicated. It's messy sometimes. That doesn't mean it's not worth it. No one is perfect. The question is which mistakes we're willing to forgive."
"And you're just going to forgive her for that?"
I noticed that all of her anger seemed to be pointed right at Violet, but that was something I could address. "Let me put this to you a different way." I waited for her to nod, proving she was actually listening to me. "You and Zeke have a relationship. You're friends, and that is a relationship. Do you think that agreeing to be his friend means he can say who you talk to?"
"No," she grumbled, making it sound like that was the dumbest thing ever.
I nodded slowly. "But you promised to care about him, right? Isn't that what it means to be a friend? What if you started hanging out with someone else sometimes? A girl from class, or maybe a cute boy who wants to talk to you? If Zeke got jealous about it, would you feel like you had to stop?"
"No, but that's different, Dad."
"Why?" I asked her. "You have a relationship, but he doesn't own you. You, Faith, are not a possession. You are not a thing to be parceled out. You are not a pet to be put on a leash. You are a person who can care about more than one friend at a time, right? And just because you talk to someone else doesn't change how you feel about your friendship with Zeke, am I right?"
